Yesterday we noticed one of the animals had thrown up during the night. We knew it wasn't my daughters cat Zeus because he is locked in her room at night. And we knew it wasn't Sheena because she is trained to throw up in the tub. Daya is still learning so usually will throw up in the bathroom too and this was in the livingroom. Leaving Zen and Pax as the two it could be. They acted otherwise normal all day so I just kept an eye on them. They both ate normally and acted normally. Then this morning I got up and found more throw up and also that someone had vomited water. Then I picked up Zen. He cried out. I felt around his abdomen and he has a HUGE fist size lump in there. He was crying while I was doing that. He now can barely move without crying. Yet last night he was acting totally normal. I have to wait till 8am to call the vet and take him in. But I am really worried. What can come on so fast like that and cause such a huge lump so quickly that makes it so he can barely move. Even turning around to try and lay down has him crying. Please keep him in your thoughts.
Please Keep Zen In Your THoughts Today
- Thread starter NicoleLJ
- Start date
I am in tears right now. We have phone around to all the vets(including the one we use) and NONE will take payments. Not one. They won't even look at him unless we have the full amount. Doug gets paid tomorrow. So I asked if they could just examine him today and they said no. He is in so much pain. So after begging at all the vets I placed a call to the SPCA. They open at 3 this afternoon. I am hoping they can direct me to a vet who will at least look at him. I can't sit here knowing he is in pain. Even if it means we have to hand him over to them to get him help we will. I hope they can help us find one to take payments though. I don't want to lose Zen and this came on so fast that I am worried he could deteriate fast.
He has never had a uti. He has always been extremely healthy. And this is a fist sized lump. It is huge. I thought obstruction too. I have had a few pets that get that. But none have had a lump like this. And none have shown the inability to move without constant pain. Even laying down this morning he has to flop over instead of laying properly down. I looked up the symptoms and most point to some type of tumor it seems. And that can come on suddenly.
He has never had a uti. He has always been extremely healthy. And this is a fist sized lump. It is huge. I thought obstruction too. I have had a few pets that get that. But none have had a lump like this. And none have shown the inability to move without constant pain. Even laying down this morning he has to flop over instead of laying properly down. I looked up the symptoms and most point to some type of tumor it seems. And that can come on suddenly.
Fist-size sounds about right for a distended bladder. It will be rock hard and painful. It is a medical emergency, as it causes electrolyte (specificaly potassium) imbalances which cause the heart to stop. It can happen to any cat with no warning, but is most common in males. My parents lost a cat to this, and he had NO problems prior to it.
No one will even look at him without full payment. And the SPCA doesn't open till 3. Right now he is laying in the bathroom. He will roll over onto his back for you to lightly rub his tummy but if you try and pick him up he growls and screams. But if you pet his side then he strains like crazy to take a poop. All I can do right now is wait till the SPCA calls me back.
So far no luck. We are keeping him locked in the bathroom right now because he wants to be where ever I am and I don't want to risk Nico trying to climb on him or one of the dogs trying to get him to play which Daya and he do every morning. He has his litter box in there, food, soft places to lay on the floor, water and so on. I check on him every half hour but so far no change. He is just laying there breathing normally right now. You can't tell he has a lump unless you press on his tummy. But it is hard as a rock. And if you rub his side he will strain to poop and if you touch his back end at all he will cry out and growl. Which is totally not normal for Zen. He never growls. He is a total suck normally.
My partner is seeing if he can make a one time access of his RRSP from work. It is not a lot but enough to get him looked at and some meds to help if it is something that can be solved that way. But he is thinking that will take a few days to access. I am hoping the SPCA will direct us to a vet that will do payments. My previous vet when I was in a small town did payments. I never thought to ask when we got our new vet. And every time we needed vet care we were able to pay the lump sum all at once. So has not been an issue. But this past summer/fall we have had a lot of things happen so we are strap right now. We can afford payments though. So it is not like we can't afford it. We just can't afford the lump payment.
My partner is seeing if he can make a one time access of his RRSP from work. It is not a lot but enough to get him looked at and some meds to help if it is something that can be solved that way. But he is thinking that will take a few days to access. I am hoping the SPCA will direct us to a vet that will do payments. My previous vet when I was in a small town did payments. I never thought to ask when we got our new vet. And every time we needed vet care we were able to pay the lump sum all at once. So has not been an issue. But this past summer/fall we have had a lot of things happen so we are strap right now. We can afford payments though. So it is not like we can't afford it. We just can't afford the lump payment.
What about CareCredit? They can get you approved quickly and offer some 0% rates if paid back by a certain time.
http://www.carecredit.com/apply/ - it can be used for both human and pet health care expenses.
http://www.carecredit.com/apply/ - it can be used for both human and pet health care expenses.
Do you not have something like Care Credit where you are, or a credit card, or the ability to take out a small bank loan? No money being put back for vet emergencies?
I've seriously never heard of a vet who wouldn't let you pay for an office call to bring a pet in for an exam, since you really don't have any clue what tests or procedures need to be run, what treatment is going to cost or what the options are until they do an initial examination. I can somewhat understand not being able to afford thousands for an emergency surgery, but an office and basic exam fee should be well under $100.
I've seriously never heard of a vet who wouldn't let you pay for an office call to bring a pet in for an exam, since you really don't have any clue what tests or procedures need to be run, what treatment is going to cost or what the options are until they do an initial examination. I can somewhat understand not being able to afford thousands for an emergency surgery, but an office and basic exam fee should be well under $100.
The quote I was given over the phone is $65 for the initial exam and then $150 for an x-ray and minimum of $126 for the blood work. We don't have that. We also don't use credit cards(debt we prefer to not accumulate), and since I am on disability and Doug doesn't make a lot a bank loan is not an option. I already answered the question about the vet not taking payments and us not having a fund. Several things happened this past summer/fall so the fund we did have had to go else where so things are tight right now. We have always been able to pay up front with our new vet so this had never been an issue before.
We were going to start a new fund after December. Right now though we have a few options we are looking at for home treatment till I hear back from the SPCA or till Doug gets paid tomorrow.
We were going to start a new fund after December. Right now though we have a few options we are looking at for home treatment till I hear back from the SPCA or till Doug gets paid tomorrow.
Disability is guaranteed income, you should at least be able to get a small loan or approval for Care Credit if you have no other outstanding debt. Have you actually applied? Or buckle down and get a credit card to use for emergencies. Having a credit card doesn't mean you have to use it all the time and accumulate a bunch of unneeded debt, but it's nice to have in a situation like this.
For a loan or care credit? I have never heard of care credit till it was mentioned here and have never applied for a loan. But I also know because I am married still to my ex and he has thousands in outstanding debt that I do not qualify since I am on disability and we don't own any thing that is worth collateral. I just discovered this issue this morning. And we might have just found a solution.
He is now on his way to the vet. My dad is helping us. I didn't think to ask him till another wonderful angel offered to loan us some money to help get him to the vet. Then I thought of my dad. He loaned me money once before for an emergency(not pet related) and even though he told us to not pay him back we did within 3 weeks. I hate asking him for money because we just found each other again after 26yrs separation. But as soon as I told him the issue he said no problem. I am not surprised. He is also a bylaw officer so knows how suddenly things like this can happen. So Zen is now on his way to the vet. Will update when we know more.
Me too. Now just waiting till we hear back on what is the issue and how to help him. Luckily I have tons to keep me busy. My daughter will be here for a visit tonight till the 11th. So we are celebrating her 15th b-day a week early. So have tons still to do to prep for that. But I still am worrying. Just glad I have stuff to keep my hands busy till then.
Update. Zen has a blockage of crystals. They said there would have been nothing we could have done at home and that this was a bad blockage. They did tell us this can come on very suddenly. So they have already knocked him out and then they are going to put in a catheter and drain him. Depending on how he does will depend on if he can come home tonight or not. If he stays over night the bill will be around $500. Less if he does well and can come home. So we can all breathe easier now.
Looks like all the cats are going to be switched to an all canned cat food diet. From everything I am reading about Crystals the best way to keep it from happening again is no dry food at all. So now to figure out what type is best along with good on the budget. I have never fed a cat on just a canned food diet unless they were sick and that was what the vet recommended for a short period. With 3 cats I need something that will be ok for Pax's allergies to most grains, chicken and beef along with good for Zen's crystals. Anyone have any tips or suggestions?
So glad they were able to help Zen, that must have been so scary! Wet food is definitely the way to go, my two have been on all wet for a couple of years now.
Finding a food with no chicken or beef might be rough. That will mostly limit you to fish which might not be the best for urinary health.
I don't know how much of a budget you are on. I personally like Weruva a lot, but it's pricey. A good cheaper food is Dave's:
http://davespetfood.com/catalog/for-cats/can-for-cats/
Buying the 13 ounce cans of some foods can end up being cheaper. Wellness comes to mind as one that might end up being good to buy big, I can't remember. Wellness has a large variety of foods, and some of the "regular" (not CORE) are still grain free. Innova might be decent to buy big too, but not a lot of variety there (and probably chicken).
Finding a food with no chicken or beef might be rough. That will mostly limit you to fish which might not be the best for urinary health.
I don't know how much of a budget you are on. I personally like Weruva a lot, but it's pricey. A good cheaper food is Dave's:
http://davespetfood.com/catalog/for-cats/can-for-cats/
Buying the 13 ounce cans of some foods can end up being cheaper. Wellness comes to mind as one that might end up being good to buy big, I can't remember. Wellness has a large variety of foods, and some of the "regular" (not CORE) are still grain free. Innova might be decent to buy big too, but not a lot of variety there (and probably chicken).
It is very unlikely he will come home tonight..generally they need to keep a urinary catheter in for several days so they don't immediately block again.
You might consider applying for Care Credit, you can apply online and it will tell you immediately whether you are approved. There isn't a fee and you often have no interest charged for the first 6 months if it is paid in that timeframe.
You might consider applying for Care Credit, you can apply online and it will tell you immediately whether you are approved. There isn't a fee and you often have no interest charged for the first 6 months if it is paid in that timeframe.